A final press conference metres away from Sydney Water’s Parramatta headquarters was an apt end point for Labor Leader Chris Minns’ election campaign.
The public utility company has been frequently mentioned in Mr Minns’ campaign.
Labor alleges the Coalition will resort to privatisation if it wins another term of government despite Premier Dominic Perrottet refuting the claims.
On Friday, Mr Minns told reporters he believed the election result would “come down to the wire” while reiterating his party’s dedication to essential workers, lowering costing of living pressures and ending privatisation.
“I do believe it’s going to be tight,” he said.
“Most NSW elections, except for a few here and there, are tight contests, and I think that we’ve always known that.”
If elected, Mr Minns said his first act of legislation would be to put “Sydney Water in the NSW constitution, stopping future governments enacting a backdoor fire sale” of state-owned assets.
Mr Minns also dodged questions around which of the government’s promised 27 WestInvest projects he would scrap if Labor were to win government. They include upgrades to Henry Lawson Drive, Elizabeth Drive and upgrades to Leppington Public, Austral Public, and Rouse Hill High.
“It’s really clear that’s their election promises for this election campaign,” he said.
“Our priority is health, and in particular the physical infrastructure for hospitals in western Sydney. The reason for that is (because) the government has withdrawn 365 beds over the last five, six years.”
Labor’s election eve blitz began with a 5.30am visit to meet stallholders at Sydney Markets in Homebush West before Mr Minns met with workers at a rail manufacturing site in Auburn.
The first two stops were in safe Labor seats. Strathfield, which includes Homebush West, sits on a 5.8 per cent margin and, bar the party’s disastrous 2011 election, has remained in Labor’s clutches since 1999.
Auburn has only been held by Labor, boasting a confident margin of 13.7 per cent.
The Opposition Leader also met with voters in Ryde and Parramatta – two seats Labor is hoping to win from the Coalition due to retiring Liberal MPs Victor Dominello and Geoff Lee.
In Ryde, Labor’s Lyndal Howison is fighting against local Liberal candidate Jordan Lane.
Local Lord Mayor Donna Davis is making a claim for Parramatta, with Katie Mullens is campaigning for the Liberal Party.
Bus mishap hits campaign trail … again
In the third bus mishap to hit the campaign trail, the bus driver of the Labor election bus temporarily disappeared on Friday, leaving media, staffers and MPs stranded at Parramatta.
It’s understood there was a miscommunication around the pick-up time, with the driver unable to be reached for about 90 minutes.
It follows a series of campaign bus mishaps that have plagued both parties. On Tuesday, Labor’s original Western Sydney-built, electric-powered vehicle ran into charging issues.
Days later, a flat battery brought the Liberal Party bus to a halt.